Jose Mourinho has high hopes for Kurt Zouma at Chelsea
The 20-year-old agreed to join the Blues in January 2014 for £12m, but remained at Saint-Etienne for the remainder of the season on loan.
The France Under-21 defender has since broken into the Blues first-team, making 17 outings in all competitions this term.
And while Mourinho is pleased with his performances so far, he knows Zouma has someway to go with his tactical knowledge of the game.
"We bought him because of his physical profile," Mourinho revealed.
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We bought him because of his physical profile
Jose Mourinho
"We were not happy with his tactical knowledge but we trusted we could give him that.
"When in pre-season we saw mistakes from him I thought okay, no problem, but it will take time.
"But he is bright, he is humble and he wants to work and learn and he listens to everything, and he had an acceleration in that process to bring him to a level where he is competing with Gary Cahill to play.
"He has played in some big matches and it looks like he can cope with it."
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